The Lies He Spoke

TWENTY ONE

BLAKE

The doctor came in to talk to Logan about an hour later, her hard brown eyes softening when she saw him awake in bed. "Hi Logan. My name is Dr. Garcia but please call me Ellen. Good to see you awake," she said, slipping the clipboard out of the plastic sheet attached to the bed and glancing down at it.

"Can't say the same about you," Logan muttered under his breath, and Blake swatted him.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm fine."

"Any nausea, vomiting, double vision?" she asked as she leaned over to shine a flashlight into his eyes.

"No, it's fine."

"I'm just going to check your heartbeat. Breathe in for me."

Logan shrunk into the bed and gripped the bed sheets until his knuckles went white when she touched the stethoscope and her slim fingers to his chest and ribs. He squeezed his eyes shut and Blake had to hold in the urge to please tell the doctor to stop for his brother's sake. By the time she was done removing the wires from his chest and the IV from his arm, Logan was white and sweating.

"You alright there, Logan?" the doctor said gently.

"Just peachy," he said tightly.

"Do you feel any bruises or cuts that you don't remember having before last night?"

"No."

"Any soreness around or in your-"

"No," Logan snapped.

"Logan, these are very important questions considering that you do not remember-"

"I said, I'm fine."

Dr. Garcia sighed but she let it go. She explained GHB and gently encouraged Logan to talk with the police, after which she said, "Well, you don't have any history of drug use, nor do you have any history of seizures, concussions, fainting, or blood loss - wait." She squinted at the clipboard and Blake resisted the urge to slap himself.

"Just to clarify, there is or there isn't fainting and blood loss?"

Blake had made more marks than he could remember on the paper when he'd corrected it because he kept going back and forth between deciding whether it was necessary to list that or whether that was even part of Logan's new witness protection hospital documents. In the end, however, he'd written out the word yes again and circled it three times to make sure his point was clear.

"There is," Logan grumbled quietly. "But it was only once."

The doctor looked at him so intensely that even Blake squirmed. "I see," she said finally, flipping the papers back onto the clipboard. "Well, in that case, there shouldn't be any need to keep you too long. You can go home after the 24-hour observation period. I want you to drink lots of water or I'm putting the IV back in. And the police are also wanting to question you once you feel well enough."

After she left, Olivia leaned in towards Logan curiously. "I didn't know you fainted, Logan. When was that?"

Logan blanched and pushed her away. "I don't know," he said gruffly. "It wasn't that important."

"Was it after the blood loss or before? Or because of it?"

"I said I don't know! Why can't a guy get a single moment of peace in this room?"

"Maybe because you were passed out for like thirteen hours!"

"What does that have to do with anything? Just get away from me!"